?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
(PENNSYLVANIA) Papers of a Pittsburgh lawyer and his old flame, the opera star and poet Ernestine Cobern Beyer. Approximately 90 items (0.4 linear feet) in one box; various conditions. Vp, 1907-34
Charles Ellsworth "Chuck" Vogel (1888-1968) was raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of Jeannette, PA and resided there for most of his life. While an undergraduate at Allegheny College (Class of 1912), he fell in love with the aspiring singer Ernestine Cobern (1893-1972), daughter of a theology professor at the college. Ernestine broke off their relationship, married David Beyer in 1912, raised a family in the Boston area, became a noted opera singer under the stage name Maria Conde by 1918, and then turned her attention to writing poetry. She became a popular children's book author in the 1950s and 1960s. Meanwhile, Charles graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1917, and then began a private law practice based in Pittsburgh. He lived with his mother well into his fifties, while maintaining a regular correspondence with his old flame, the married opera star. He finally moved on in 1943, marrying for the first time at the age of 55. Offered here are 54 of Ernestine's letters to Chuck. 12 of them were sent during their college days from 1910 to 1912, until she married. They resumed their correspondence in 1926; she complained of her marriage in a 25 June 1926 letter. In an undated "farewell" letter from the same period, she wrote: "Who would guess that the pebble dropped into the water of life fourteen years ago would set up an unending series of ripples and undulations against the furthest shore? . . . The prison doors will clang behind me once more." For the next 5 years, though, she sent regular letters, often including her poems in manuscript or clipped from her recent publications, and often discussing her performing career as a singer. She even wrote a long running letter to him in diary form from October to November 1926. The last full letter was dated in 1931, followed by a lone greeting card from 1934. Also included are two of Chuck's college diaries from 1908 to 1911, his college scrapbook, two of his draft letters to Ernestine, 4 photographs of Ernestine, 5 of her concert programs, and more. A deeply private look at a noteworthy singer and author--and certain to meet or exceed your recommended daily allowance of drama.
